My Toxic Home Update

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Not too long ago, I shared a post titled, What If Your House Was Making You Sick! I told you how we moved a few years ago and my health took a turn for the worse. My pain and fatigue increased and I felt so much anxiety especially during the Spring and Fall.

Right after that post, we scheduled our air conditioning system to be serviced and checked before the summer heat arrived. What we found out not only shocked us but also gave us the answers to my health flare.

Toxic Air

We had a geothermal air conditioning system which ran on our well water. I’m pretty sure this system was installed about forty years ago when the house was built. We were told that a new air conditioning system was installed in the nineties but I’m not sure that was accurate information. When the repair man opened up the system he was completely grossed out by the gunk and mold he found inside the system. He recommended we replace the system and told us it was not healthy to run the present system. Of course, I had him take pictures to show me because there was no way I was going down there!

New System and Air Scrubber

After seeing the condition of the system we arranged to have a new system installed and opted for a traditional heat pump and air conditioning system instead of the geothermal. Our new air conditioning system contains a six-inch HEPA filter. We also opted to have an Air Scrubber installed with the system. It is a whole house air purifier which removes fine airborne particles such as mold spores, dust, pollen, tobacco and other small particulates. The HEPA air scrubber contains a UV light which kills and prevents mold growth. It can also act as an air sanitizer. The one down-side of this system is that sometimes it smells like bleach. I’m not quite sure why and I absolutely despise the smell of bleach and never buy the stuff. The bleach smell is not bad enough to remove the scrubber and so far I only smell it in certain parts of the house.

Installation

The day the system was to be installed I had plans to visit my Mom for the day. As I was getting ready to leave I noticed the installers were carrying the old system up the stairs and into my foyer to go out the front door. I made a mad dash to tell them that there was no way could they do that, and directed them to carry everything out the basement door and around the house.

I knew that when I arrived home later that evening my symptoms would flare because the basement door had been left open. Instead, when I walked in through the front door I purposely took a deep breath and to my amazement, the nasty smell that I had been bothered by since moving here was nowhere to be found. I was shocked. I told my husband that I didn’t smell anything.

Amazing Transformation

Later that evening he opened the basement door without my knowledge just to test me. When I realized it was opened I told him that I didn’t smell that horrid odor and that I was just shocked. You see, we were both convinced the smell was coming from the cinderblock foundation. We spent thousands of dollars installing french drains and sump pumps. Don’t get me wrong, we needed to do that but after having all that work done we were disappointed that the odor was still around and that I was still having symptoms.

We’re so relieved that the odor is gone and while we didn’t have the system tested for mold but I did get a tape sample to send in for testing. We also chose not to have any type of remediation done yet but rather wait a bit and see how I responded. In a dream world, we would have loved to have everything tested and remediated and to take care of any possible mold once and for all, but in reality, it’s expensive.

Health Impact

Over the course of the following weeks, I’ve continued to feel better. My anxiety completely went away. The odor that was not only permeating from throughout the entire basement but also into the garage completely went away. I can go into both places and not feel sick. The only downside is that now I don’t have any excuses for not getting those areas cleaned up!

While we’re not certain that the odor was mold, we also found out that mice had died inside the old system and in the immediate air duct the workers found a large, thankfully empty, mouse nest.

The moral of this story is that even when your home inspector says that the house your buying is in great shape and that the systems are old but in great running order, go ahead and have everything looked at and serviced by professionals just to make sure. If you detect odors or suspect mold, either run for the hills or have them inspected by a true mold specialist.

We live in a time when we are bombarded by so many things that can make us sick, weaken our immune system or compromise our health. If you think that your house is making you sick do some investigating. This is not just a problem with old houses, it’s true for newer homes as well. The reality is, our homes and the products we choose to bring into our homes can contain toxins that make and keep us sick.

This is the perfect time to sign up for the Toxic Home Transformation.

So much of what I’ve learned over the years to help my family overcome tick-borne diseases and regain health was through summits just like this one. It’s free and so easy to listen to. I like to access them from my smartphone, I put one earbud in, keep a notebook handy and listen while I’m cleaning, getting ready for the day or when I’m relaxing in the evening.

You will learn so much from these specialists and you won’t even have to leave your home.

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Comments

I always appreciate your posts! They are always so filled with good information that is so helpful.
I am going to begin a new protocol in mid-July that you may like to look into (or perhaps you already know about it). It is intravenous ozone therapy. Here is an article that you may find helpful. I am praying this will help me heal from Lyme! I’ll let you know and perhaps this will help others in the pursuit for healing as well.

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Hey, thanks for stopping by. I'm Tricia, a Christian wife & homeschool mom. When I was sick with chronic Lyme I had lost hope on more than one occasion. It's my privilege to share with you the HOPE-giver along with Lyme education and to let you know that it really is possible to heal from Lyme disease. So, stick around and let me encourage you, share valuable information about tick-borne diseases and teach you how you can have hope for the journey! Read more on my About page.

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MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Tricia, Abounding in Hope with Lyme, is a not a doctor and is not able to diagnose, prescribe a treatment plan or give medical advice. Tricia's intention is only to share her experience and no information here is to be used as medical advice. Please seek appropriate medical care.